
157 BYRES RD.
157 BYRES RD.


Information:
ADDRESS:
The Alchemy Experiment
157 Byres Road, G12 8TS
Glasgow​​​​​
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OPENING EVENING:
Friday 25th July 19:00-21:00
free entry
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OPENING HOURS:
Mon - Thu 8.30-18.00
Fri 8.30-18.00
Sat 9.00-18.00
Sun 10.00-17.00
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ARTIST LINKS:
website
instagram
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STEVEN J. ALLES MD MFA MS
Grey Glasgow 2024, Darker States 2025: Discovering Colour in Wet Scotland as Preparation to Manage Living in the United States
25.07.25
03.08.25
FREE ENTRY
Grey Glasgow/Darker States is a set of original artwork by an American physician inspired by the wet cloudy Glaswegian summer of 2024 and its influence upon return to the United States in 2025.
The damp Scottish city rich in architectural beauty and lovely, interesting people served as a sharp contrast to the breakdown of integrity, civility and infrastructure in the States. Marginalized populations and science-based advancement are under attack from an administration committed to imposing a moral framework inconsistent with the reality of life in the 21st century.
This body of work is a statement pushing back that gender expression, identity and sexuality are basic human rights, and that government infrastructure to support the weak, infirm, and needy are acts of human decency. Though an evolving story in unsteady times, grey Glasgow of 2024 has shaped pushback to life in the darker United States of 2025.

" Shortly after retiring as a public health physician in Philadelphia USA, I spent the summer of 2024 in Glasgow studying large portraiture at the Glasgow School of Art and making a set of paintings mostly of West End tenements and other architectural features of the city. The summer was cloudy, cold and wet – but I continued to see a brighter and more colourful environment as time went on. People in particular - the cone on the Duke of Wellington and slogan: People Make Glasgow made a big impact on my perceptions of community and living well. My technical skill with painting evolved over this time to include more colour to represent grey, and more intense underpainting tones and bolder brushwork.
I returned to the United States shortly after a ridiculous election outcome replacing the executive and legislative branches of federal government with extreme conservatives.
Since early in 2025, this administration has enacted orders to undermine human rights for women, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ individuals, to dismantle scientific institutions that conduct medical research, ensure environmental protections and promote public health, and violate the Constitution of the United States with respect to powers including the use of the military. Integrity seems to be lost as these actions increase power to benefit the ultra-wealthy at the expense of our marginalized and impoverished communities.
My response has been to produce art that focuses on the people in the United States who are being negatively affected - remembering the slogan and attitudes of people in Glasgow that I came to admire last summer. Time traveling drag queens, seniors, dilapidated buildings, and messages that derive from the community spirit expand as themes in my work. “Go Birds” for example is a unifying Philadelphia chant heard at public events that derives from the entire community’s support of the champion Philadelphia Eagles American football team. Though an evolving story in unsteady times, grey Glasgow of 2024 has shaped my pushback to life in the darker United States of 2025. "
- Steven J. Alles
Purchase enquires - contact us at staff@alchemyexperiment.com